Tariffs

It’s A Cult.
Like, for realsies.
- Nope. Just capitalism doing capitalism things. No need frame the issue as some sort of mass psychosis or cultural pathology when it's clear that this devolution is a response to deteriorating material conditions. Calling fascism a cult is an ideological evasion. It's the liberals' convenient way of characterizing trump as an anomaly as opposed to a predictable symptoms of capitalist crisis. Liberals do this because it allows them to attempt to explain fascism without acknowledging that capitalism itself gives rise to such movements.
  There is no Trump cult; there is only textbook, predictable fascism - which leftists have been warning liberals about for decades only to be laughed away. Reap what you sow.
  
  It's a cult. It just so happens that fascism is a kind of cult. Cults pop up in all sorts of circumstances, and capitalism is one of them.
  
  It’s that too! But it’s also a cult. People who study cults for a living confirm the heck out of that.
  I recommend this lady as a starting point if you’re curious. She’s former SpecOps.
  
  100% a cult.
  My family would bend over backwards to end abortion access, but when I send them buckets of articles showing how people are harmed by Trump... well, either its fine or there is nothing they can do about it.
  
  Some are getting fucking tattoos!

AI image.
Arguments I'm seeing online are; it's his genius plan to devalue the US dollar so it remains the world currency. When it's devalued enough he's use dropping tariffs as a negotiation tactic to get world wide free trade agreements.
The problem? The US dollar is already the reserve currency and there's no competition for that role. The Euro comes closest in terms of the amount of physical money they have out there in circulation (1.5 trillion) and the US is still a trillion physical notes ahead of them (not to mention accepted as currency in places far outside of Europe)..
World reserve currency is just not a role any other currency has the reach and volume of notes to do.
Meaning Trump is just devaluing the dollar for no good reason.
- And the way he's talking about annexing other countries and changes opinion and policy on a dime is not a good sign to step into whatever scheme he finally unveils.

I still have a hard time understanding how people come to support Trump. Like what led people to become like this? I can't wrap my head around it. It's like supporting someone who is bullying you.
- Big part of it is his supporters are detached from reality. They have a faith-based belief system.
- A lot of his supporters are born Republicans. Their parents voted Republican, and their grandparents. To them voting Republican isn't a choice, it's what's expected of them. They don't participate in the Republican party, they just consume it, like American's consume everything else. Those people will never once question why they're voting that way, it's what their parents did, their community does, and it's what their children will probably do too.
- sabotage of education systems, propaganda and tribalism
- I take great pleasure in seeing Trump paraphernalia being removed from people's homes and cars.
  But I honestly can't believe there are still people proudly showing it. Flapping their ignorance and foolishness around for everyone to see. Cover your shame!
- I still have a hard time understanding how people come to support Trump. Like what led people to become like this?
  It is never just one reason, it is a myriad of different reasons compounding and mixing with each other. Intentional dumbing down of population, genuine economic anxiety, wealth inequality, algorithm corralling people into their own information bubble leading to polarisation, etc. It is important to put yourself into one's shoes and think why they think that way. You don't have to agree with the viewpoint you disagree, you just have to understand. Understanding is the key to defeating extremism.
  
  Don't forget about the opposition party abandoning large swaths of the country because they're too hard to win in.
  If only one team shows up, then that's the team you're rooting for.
- People don't seem to vote for a candidate any more.
  They vote against the other one...
  And that does seem to be something both sides are guilty of. They don't know what they want. They just know what they don't want.
  The fact that I even say "both sides" is a sign the political systems have failed.
  
  That’s the way it has always been.
  
  They don’t know what they want. They just know what they don’t want.
  So simple, but that explains a lot.

People need to be more understanding of Trump supporters. It's like they say, you can't understand a man until you've walked a mile with a monster third arm growing out of your back. liberals will never understand the struggle.
- Three arms!?
  Like a gene stealer cultist!!
  
  The only good bug, is a dead bug!

Just a note that this appears to be an AI generated image. Note the dude up front with an arm coming out of his back. Unless thats a whole jamon iberico that he has stuffed under his jacket, in which case I'd stand corrected.
- No that's just how MAGATs look, it's an unfortunate side affect of being inbred.

Can’t see the forest through the trees, can’t smell the shit when it’s on your knees.
The beautiful people, Marilyn Manson.
- Ironic, since Manson is also a shit human.
  
  He's a shit human for reasons mostly unrelated to his political takes. Though I haven't heard him recently. He could have gone the Russel Brand route.

Whoever made this meme doesn't understand Republicans at all. It's 'Lets Go Brandon' and 'Thanks Obama'
- No, not at all.
  They're rejoicing, because the cleansing fire of Atom is at hand!
  
  The emperor is purifying us!

Why did Obama do this?
- If only they arrested hunter biden.

Don't look at those characters too long or you will enter a Lovecraftian AI-nightmare.
- IDK, I kinda like the power pole hovering off in the distance.
- You don't like how little Shub-shub in the front there looks?
  I think he's kinda cute.
  
  Cute like Carpenter's "The Thing"...

still a cringe use of gen AI

Would be funny if it weren’t so sadly true.

I think one of those guys has an arm growing out of his back
- The better to bare arms with.
  
  Wym, he's got long sleeves

It’s funny how they’ve created a buffer against reality.
“DoWnVoTeS mEaN yOuRe OvEr ThE tArGeT” … or maybe you’re making an idiotic point?
“AnY CoNsErVaTiVe WhO DiSaGrEeS WiTh TrUmP iS a FaKe ‘FeLLoW cOnSeRvAtiVe’”
- Fiscally conservative now means losing unimaginably large amounts of money.

Why won't Republicans do something?!
- They are co-conspirators.
  
  It is not really a serious question. More an effort to keep the focus on the bastards enabling the terribleness.

I pulled my entire 401k out except for clean energy investments, and moved everything i have to stocks in countries outside the U.S.
I hope it burns. These chucklefucks only understand money.

Just wait when he release the content of the laptop, you'll see.
- And the Epstein list. It'll be a list of all of those countries with the highest tariff ones at the top, you'll see.
  I knew those penguins were up to no good.
  
  The penguins are just the tip of the iceberg, literally. The storm is coming Q.

Just waiting for nids to come so this genestealer cultist crap can end.

This is kinda disconnected from the reactions of right wingers. Most of them are happy right now to "burn it down". Which has been a lot of the reason that many people have supported trump from the start. Sure, they misdirect their anger towards the wrong people. But they haven't felt the effects of the tariffs yet. Most of them are just enjoying seeing the stock market drop.
- I tried watching some fox in an attempt to understand the other perspective but I just don't, my summary of the 15 minutes of fox was.
  Show clip of democrat politican giving normal speech, not bad not great just a boilerplate speech.
  Proclaim the event was sad and embarassing for that politician without really saying why.
  Claim said politician has certain negative view on subject that was never even mentioned in the clip.
  Rapid fire multiple more strawmans of things the person in the clip never said or even mentioned.
  Claim they're also biassed by bringing up tangentially related event that happened when the republicans were in fact the ones in power.
- Most of them are happy right now to “burn it down”.
  That's because they are catastrophically stupid people.

purge

This has been Republican fantasy for decades, don't just assign blame just to Trump.

Obviously it's all part of his plan to tank the economy sheeple. Wake up
/s

"I must isolate you, and save you from yourself " "Swinging to the rhythm on a new world order "

Why does Europe like tariffs so much if tariffs are so bad?
I'm assuming its Europeans themselves that are asking for the tariffs, and they have tariffs between countries in the EU as well, so what makes Europeans different from Americans. You'd assume they wouldnt have too different an outlook.
- The problem isn't that tariffs are being applied. There are many reasons to apply them, such as ensuring local production remains competitive with imports. The problem is that the tariffs are being just thrown up without careful calculation of what they are trying to achieve.
  It's not the tariffs, it's the unhinged way in which the US is applying them right now.
- No, we don't have any tariffs between countries in the EU for the most part, it's one of the reasons the EU is so great.
  
  Oh really, I just saw articles like this popping up a lot, and I live in Canada where we have the same thing going on between provinces:
  https://www.ft.com/content/13a830ce-071a-477f-864c-e499ce9e6065

If Trump had introduced a 10% national sales tax, would the perception be the same?
Tariffs are a patriotic sales tax with an exception for US companies. Of course MAGA likes that.
The bad thing is that it is a flat tax and not progressive. Why is that not the main issue of the debate?
- The perception would absolutely not be the same, and US companies are also not exempted from paying them. Most people don't understand that tariffs are taxes paid on imports, paid by those who import them. They think tariffs are magical and the money comes from foreigners.
  People may start to understand if/when the price hikes start affecting them directly. For now only retirees with stock market holdings have seen a drop.
  
  They meant exception for US made products, I think.
  
  tariffs are taxes paid on imports, paid by those who import them.
  The importing company just adds the tariffs to their sales price. Tariffs are paid by the last one in the chain, the customer. That's why it's like a sales tax.